Ecomorphology is associated with speciation and co-occurrence in Sceloporus lizards

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary Biology
• Ecology
• Herpetology

Background:

• Closely related species exert strong selection on each other via competition.
• Niche partitioning drives phenotypic divergence by reducing competitive overlap.
• Understanding the ecology-morphology link reveals how phenotypic diversity shapes species coexistence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore ecomorphological evolution dynamics in Sceloporus lizards.
• To investigate the relationship between speciation, co-occurrence, and phenotypic diversity.
• To quantify how phenotypic variation influences coexistence in closely related species.

Main Methods:

• Collected data for 80 Sceloporus species.
• Analyzed relationships between multivariate morphology and ecology.
• Quantified ecomorphological diversity across the radiation.

Main Results:

• Identified six distinct ecological modes (ecomorphs) with associated morphologies in Sceloporus.
• Arboreality evolution expanded morphospace and increased speciation rates.
• Sceloporus ecomorphs are spatially overdispersed, indicating competition limits coexistence of similar species.

Conclusions:

• Ecomorphological diversity is strongly linked to ecology and speciation in Sceloporus lizards.
• Phenotypic variation plays a crucial role in enabling species to coexist.
• Competition between closely related species drives adaptive radiation and diversification.